A great number of today's books, films, magazines and shows lead people in the direction of disorder, anarchy and chaos. And they are tremendously popular! It is astonishing to see to what extent human nature needs to feed on such diabolical stuff. So much so that you cannot really blame artists and writers for giving the public this kind of food; they are simply trying to provide what it demands so avidly. It is not entirely their fault therefore, but even so, if they had been taught by Initiates, they would know that they must not stoop to satisfy the baser appetites and lusts of men's lower nature. They would stay on a higher level and, in this way, the public would be forced to rise in order to reach them and to reach the higher intelligence and beauty that they possess.

Instead of this, in trying to satisfy the masses, the demos, the stomach, they have helped to supplant the aristocracy of the brain, with the result that it is now men's lower nature that has the upper hand and flaunts itself, lays down the law and imposes its will.

Oh yes; we are all very 'democratic' nowadays; the masses rule; ignorance holds sway, and intelligence, the aristocracy, has been defeated because it was incapable of retaining its superiority. The time has come to form, once again, an intellectual, moral and spiritual aristocracy so that the masses may evolve. Those who are in control - the demos, the stomach, the belly and the sexual organs - must allow the head to rule, for it is not for the head to gratify the desires of the belly and the sexual organs.

To be sure, if democracy has taken power, it is because the aristocracy has degenerated, just as the social and political aristocracy degenerated. To be an aristocrat does not mean to possess a name, a title, a prominent position or great estates; it means to have high personal standards of morality, generosity and strength of character.

People wanted to get rid of the monarchy and the aristocracy, to do away with tsars and nobles... Yes, but those who are now in power, even in Communist countries, perpetrate the same crimes as the overlords of old, and, once again, popular uprisings will liquidate them in their turn, because they, too, are unworthy: they have forgotten that they overthrew the monarchy and the nobility in order to establish the reign of brotherhood and justice. With the passing of the years they have forgotten their ideal and become materialized and corrupt, just as the Church, in the course of the centuries, has forgotten the principles of love taught by Jesus and become materialized.

It is time, now, to restore the aristocracy of the heart and soul, the aristocracy of the Initiates and great Masters, of all those truly enlightened beings who have proved their worth. Words are not enough. Everybody is capable of making wonderful speeches, but how many are capable of putting their words into practice? As long as those who rule and are in command are not enlightened by Initiatic Science, what good can come of their decisions? They may not actually spark bloody confrontations but nor will they produce a veritable transformation of mentalities. You only have to open your eyes and see this for yourself: do the majority of human beings demand spiritual, divine riches? No; all they ask for is money, pleasure and the freedom to indulge themselves like animals. All their demands are for their belly and stomach, never for light. In these conditions, how can you expect the masses to change the world and bring about the Kingdom of God? When they begin to ask for something more, yes, perhaps; but it is not by making some minor changes on the economic, material, financial or political level that they will bring about any great transformations. It will always be the same old story; always the same filth. The trouble is that no one has yet understood what it is that has to be changed.

True, talk of change is on everyone's lips, but all I see are the tireless endeavours of a handful of ambitious man who are bent on getting to the top so as to have more power and more money. They don't prepare themselves, they don't work to become purer and nobler or to achieve self-mastery, to become examples for others. That is not what interests them. What use would it be to them to be better human beings? That is not what they need. They need a position of power, the opportunity to gratify their passions and their thirst for conquests and revenge. This si why the world will never know peace.

The truth is that present-day society is so unenlightened that it encourages all the baser tendencies of its members. Parents are so ignorant that they think that their duty as educators is to bring up their children to look for favours and privileges in life. Instead of teaching their children to prepare themselves for their future responsibilities, so that they will be worthy of them and fulfil them with integrity, they force the most pernicious advice on them and are elated when they meet with outward success, even if it is not deserved. People's amtitious are always confined to the material plane and since, in order to succeed, one has to use cunning, deceit and violence, they end by destroying all that is best in their character.

Human beings have no difficulty in understanding that wealth makes it possible for them to influence events and reverse certain situations but, as it is rarely through honesty and generosity that they become rich - rather the contrary - they are ready to transgress every law to obtain that wealth. You will say, 'That's all very well, but if we followed your advice and spent all our time preparing and strengthening ourselves and becoming examples, conditions in the world are such that we would always be unknown and stuck away in some obscure job at the bottom of the ladder.' What makes you so sure? If you are capable and truly exceptional, if you are truly a model, a sun, whether you like it or not, others will come and fetch you, by force if necessary, and place you at their head to rule and guide them. If this has not yet happened, it is because you have not earned it; you are not yet sufficiently perfect.

Human beings are in need of true light, true science and true power. They need these things and are constantly in search of them, but, as those they frequent are not always shining examples, they get along as best they can, using dishonesty and violence in order to succeed at all costs. Inwardly, they all need something sublime but, as they never meet that something, they become discouraged and begin to imitate the brigands and vultures that surround them, telling themselves - like so many others -'Virtue is never rewarded', 'An honest man dies of hunger' and 'Man is a wild beast for his fellow men'. In this way, each individual descends to the level of those around him and conforms to the lowest common denominator.

But if, in the future, some human beings embrace this Teaching, struggle against the general trend and sacrifice everything else for the sake of this sublime ideal, you would soon see that others would love and appreciate them and seek them out. And this is how the Kingdom of God will be established on earth. If it has not already come, it is because the majority of those in power are not motivated by a high ideal. Naturally, they would never be so stupid, so insane as to have such a sublime goal! They are only interested in what they can get out of the situation. But if some of them do decide to achieve this ideal come what may, then, believe me, they will find true power, true light and true beauty.

The sad thing is that a great many adolescents do have this desire to work for an ideal, to make great sacrifices, to conduct themselves as true, valiant knights. But then, after a time, when they come up against hard facts and are urged by those around them to be 'sensible' and 'realistic', they abandon their dreams and try to adapt and become like others. Obviously, even if a person's aspirations and impulses are excellent, he needs support; he needs someone to advise him and help him not to go back on the choices he has made, otherwise he will be worn down by a multitude of little difficulties and the jokes and jeers of his companions until he becomes exactly like the wild beasts all round him.

When I talk about the aristocracy, therefore, I am talking about the true inner aristocracy. When this aristocracy succeeds in maintaining its pre-eminent position in a human being, harmony reigns amongst the whole population of cells but, if it is unequal to its taks, it is overthrown and its opponents - his instincts, lusts, vices and failings - take power into their own hands. And then, as the revolutionary song has it, all the aristocrats will be strung up! This always happens when the inner nobility is unworthy: the aristocrats are sent to the guillotine and the rabble takes power into its own hands.

And, very often, this is what happens to you, too. Of course, the blind won't see it but, if you meet an Initiate, he will understand the situation immediatly and will say, 'My poor fellow, why on earth have you let things degenerate to such an extent? You're no better than a slave! And you don't even know how it happened! Well, it is for one of three reasons: either you lacked light, or you had no love for the divine world, or you didn't have the will-power to keep working.' There are only three possible explanations, not four or five or ten or more.

People always see the causes of their misfortune outside themselves: their parents, society, their education, a shortage of money, the ill-will of neighbours, competitors, etc. No, it is simply a lack of intelligence, love or will-power. This is how an Initiate envisages things. He knows that it is no good looking for causes in the external world; they must be sought in a person's inner life. Human beings are going to have to adopt entirely new criteria if they are to see the true causes of what happens to them.